A Different Marauder's Tale
by Skylertheawkwardfox
Summary: Follow Skyler Jackson as she recalls her time with the Marauders at Hogwarts as the coming war brews just beneath the surface of all the pranks and spells. This young metamorphagus starts her years at school experiencing strange vision, and rogue powers.
1. Chapter 1: How Everything Began

Hello, my name is Skyler Tamara Jackson. I have long blonde hair and sea green eyes. And this is my story of the time when the marauders and I lived, laughed, loved, hated, pranked, mourned, and got revenge at the infamous Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I had a rich pureblood family so naturally I got my wand at an early age and had a tutor, Mr. Harries, teach me basic spells. I was also born as a metamorphmagus. My mother thought of it as more of a deadly disease than a talent. So she also had Mr. Harries teach me how to control it so no one would know her child was a... a… FREAK!

My mother, Margret Jackson, was an independent brewer, which meant she would brew any potion for anyone as long as they had the money for it. Like her, her parents were just as scared of my talent making every visit horrible. They were of course all Slytherins. (Why my father married her is still a mystery)She also had a sister, Evelyn Selwyn, who had always been very optimistic and nothing like my mother or their parents. She had been sorted into Hufflepuff, much to their disappointment, but she had died when I was only four. She had had a daughter Hope, who is a year younger than me. She was such a nightmare to me, but that was most likely because she lived with my grandparents. Whenever I was around she would make faces, take my things, and complain that I was being mean to her(which of course everyone except dad believed her) until one time while the adults weren't looking I changed my hair into snakes and hissed at her. Ever since she has never so much as looked at me. Once I even gave my mother a rubber snake to give to Hope for her birthday insisting she loved them. When she opened her present she nearly died of shock. I was grounded for a month, but it was worth it. My dad and I laughed about it for nearly the entire month.

My father, Harvey Jackson, was an Auror. He had never been afraid of my skills, he actually thought they were quite funny but he wouldn't ever tell my mother that's what he thought. He was gone most of the time anyway so what he thought didn't matter. His parents were just like him, very nice, warm people. He also had 10 siblings, five girls and six boys including him. My dad had always said the only good thing about such a big family was that there were enough people to play Quidditch. None of them ever married, so Hope was my only Cousin. The only good thing was that I saw them a lot more than my mother's family because they lived a lot closer seeing as the Selwyns lived in Paris. Personally I think they just enjoy torturing me when we come to visit.

It all truly starts when I was six. One day, while I was waiting for my tutor in the library, I started to wander around looking at the title of books, most of which I had already read, when one caught my eye. It was called _Animagus Transformation and Registration_ and well a six year old mind is a curious mind so I decided to see what it was. I read the first few pages and realized that it was full animal transformations and being a metamorphmagus I could only do part of the transformations. I quickly decided I wanted to try it and shoved it in my bag just before Mr. Harries came in, knowing neither my parents nor my tutor would approve of enhancing my metamorphmagus skills seeing as they were trying to teach me how to hide them. I didn't like to hide things from Mr. Harries because he was the best friend I never really had, but somehow I felt if I had asked him about it he might take the book away and I'd never be able to try.

My lessons with Mr. Harries were always fun. Every time we would always start with a new spell and then review the old spells, but he didn't want me to "master" them because he said I would do that when I started school. I never listened to him about not mastering them, though, I always practiced when he was gone, or whenever I wasn't practicing to be the best seeker ever, so I'd be ready, for what, I never knew, but I just felt I would need to be ready for something. He would usually only teach me the basics like Expelliarmus, Stupefy, and Repairo. Although on occasion he would throw in some hexes like Levicorpus, or Petrificus Totales "to keep away boys" as if I couldn't just whack them upside the head or kick their asses if they tried anything.

After class I hurried up to my room and closed the door so I could read more in depth what I had to do to become an animagus. I soon found out that I not only had to perform a few difficult spells but there was also a potion I had to make. Luckily, my mother was a brewer so I had tons of ingredients and a cauldron at my disposal. Little did I know that becoming an animagus would affect my life so much.

Then I remember there was also a registration part to it, but as I read about it, it didn't seem like it was a necessary part to becoming an animagus. Even if it was illegal not to register, as a six year old that small detail didn't really bother me. So I did what any logical witch would do, I pulled out my wand and set to work on the first spell. At first it bothered me a little that the spells weren't coming as easily as the others had, but eventually I realized how much more advanced they were and was happy with what little progress that I had made.

By the time I had turned eight I had mastered the first out of the seven spells. After that I was completing about two spells a year. The fourth spell showed you what type of animal you were to become. It was quite frustrating towards the end because a formless blob would shoot out of my wand and dissipate before it could became anything, but when I finally mastered it the formless blob finally turned into a fox. I smiled as I watched it leap around the room, and then it jumped right though me, disappearing.

When I turned ten years old (on July 8th) I started to make the potion which took most of the year to get it right because it took about a month to brew so in hindsight it only took about eight tries. I finally perfected it just before my Hogwarts letter arrived. When I look back three things were key parts in successfully becoming an animagus; 1. I was naturally talented in transfiguration and potions, 2. I was a metamorphmagus, which made the whole transformation concept a million times easier, and 3. My mother was a very busy person and didn't pay much attention to small details like a few missing ingredients.

The morning I received my letter was my second best day ever. I not only received my letter, but I would also try to transform for the very first time. I got up at about seven o'clock every morning that week expecting my letter to arrive soon, but on this particular morning I had also woken up to the smell of bacon, and chocolate chip pancakes. I quickly got dressed anticipating a trip to Diagon Alley assuming these wonderful smells were in fact because my Hogwarts letter had arrived.

As I rushed into the kitchen my suspicions were confirmed. There on my plate was a letter with the Hogwarts coat of arms and green ink that clearly had my name and address on it. I was so excited I hadn't even seen my parents and Ana, our house elf, sitting/standing across from me smiling. I read the letter with much enthusiasm even though I already knew what it would say having read my mother's old school letter. When I was done I set it down next to my plate, beaming, and started to pile pancakes and bacon onto my plate.

"Congratulations princess, I'm going to take you to Diagon Alley today to get your school things, and your mother will meet us at the Leaky Cauldron." my dad said loading his plate with pancakes and bacon while my mum only had one.

"Sounds great!" I said knowing the only reason she wasn't coming is because she hated spending time with me even though she insisted 'she had work to do', but it didn't bother me because the feeling was mutual. I also knew I could get my dad to buy me anything without her around. After we finished eating I got my cloak and went over to our fireplace where my dad was waiting with the floo powder.

He handed me some, I threw it in, stepped into the fire, and said as clearly as possible, "Diagon Alley." Then after the familiar feeling of being sucked through a tube subsided my feet finally found ground and I stumbled a little but didn't fall. Shortly after I arrived my dad came through the fireplace with a flash of green flames.

"Seeing as you already have your wand why don't we start by getting you an owl so you can send letters home to tell us how you are doing." he said as we made our way out of the Leaky Cauldron and into Diagon Alley. As we walked down the street I looked at all of the familiar shops that my parents took me to, my favorite being Quality Quidditch of course. I noticed that few other kids were there to buy their school supplies.

At the end of the street just before Gringotts Bank was Eeylops Owl Emporium and Magical Menagerie. Inside were a wide array of owls, cats, rats, and toads, some even had special magical abilities. I looked over at the section where most of the owls were. One owl on the far side was looking at me with its great big orange eyes and I walked closer and saw that it was an eagle owl. Then I looked back at the rest of the owls, and they all seemed to pale in comparison.

"Looks like you're the one then," I said looking into her eyes, "I think I'll call you Ginger. It's not the most original, but I don't know any better than that." So, I grabbed her cage and took her over to where my father was and we checked out. Next we went to Flourish and Blotts where we got all my school books plus _Curses and Counter Curses _by Professor Vindictus Viridian. Then we went to Madame Malkins to get my robes. We didn't have to go to the Apothecary or Portage's Cauldron Shop, because I already had my cauldron and potions kit, having a brewer for a mum and all. Finally we went back to the Leaky Cauldron to have dinner with mum.

When we got home I went straight up stairs to pack some of my stuff and locked the door so I could try to transform after I was done. Once I finished packing my books I faced my full length mirror, I closed my eyes, and took a deep breath. I cleared my mind and focused only on becoming a fox. Slowly I felt myself shrinking down into what felt like the form of a dog, but I knew it was a fox. When it stopped I opened my eyes and instead of me staring back there was a full grown fox. I smiled a devilish fox smile as I looked at the form I had become.

Then I thought, "What if I can change the color of the fox fur like I can change my hair!" I closed my eyes again and imagined my fur turning green. I opened my eyes and sure enough I was a green fox, but I changed back to orange because it looked better. I quickly changed back to human just to make sure I could, because the book had talked about how sometimes people got stuck in between forms. I sat down on my bed and wondered what other things I could do as a fox that could be useful in future pranking and general messing with people's minds.

"It would be helpful if I was a little smaller sometimes." I thought so I transformed back into a fox, and closed my eyes. Concentrating on being small, I felt myself beginning to shrink. I opened my eyes, and saw that I had become a fox pup. I heard footsteps on the stairs so I quickly transformed back, and sat on my bed.

My mum knocked on my door and asked, "Can I come in?"

"Sure." I said unlocking the door with a wave of my wand.

"How's packing going?"

"Good."

"Goodnight then I'll see you in the morning, and you can help me brew some of the easier potions if you want."

"Okay, I might do that in the morning, but then I'm going to practice flying after lunch.", then I got up to start getting ready for bed as mum left my room. Once I got in bed I laid there for a while thinking more about which house I wanted to be in. Then I decided I wanted to be in Gryffindor because I didn't want to be like my parents I wanted to be like Skyler. Content with my decision, I drifted off to sleep.

The last week before September 1st was a blur of prank preparations, flying, and lessons reviewing what I had learned over the last six years. On the last day I finished packing my truck so, we'd be ready to leave the next morning.

I tried to sneak my broom upstairs to pack it but, mum caught me and yelled, "Skyler Tamara Jackson you put that broom back right now! You know there is a rule against first years having a broom at Hogwarts!" Grudgingly I stomped back to the broom shed, and made a show of putting it away while she watched from the kitchen window.

The next morning I practically woke up at the crack of dawn bursting with excitement so I double checked and triple checked that I had packed everything, ran down stairs, had Ana make breakfast, and sat on top of my truck at the front door waiting to leave. About an hour later my parents were finally ready to leave. We took a taxi to the King's Cross train station, and when we got there my parents led me to the barrier between platforms nine and ten with my trolley.

At first I hesitated, but then I decided it would be easier just to run and get it over with. I glanced at my parents, who nodded encouragingly, and I started to run. Just before I hit the barrier I closed my eyes, but when I didn't hit solid wall I decided it was okay to open my eyes. Behind me my parents casually walked through the barrier together. I looked back and saw the magnificent scarlet train that would be taking me to Hogwarts. Quickly I said my goodbyes and loaded my trunk into the first empty compartment I could find. There was only one minute until departure so I stuck my head out my window to search for my parents so I could wave goodbye one last time before I left. Slowly the platform slipped out of view and I sat back down in my compartment for a few minutes.

Bored of sitting by myself, I decided I would go find a compartment with people in it so I could make friends. As I walked down the hallway a girl with flaming red hair and a boy with long greasy black hair and a hooked nose walked out of a compartment and another boy with messy black hair and round wiry glasses called after them saying, "See ya later Snivelous." I quickly covered my mouth to hide my smile from the boy and girl as they passed.

"Got room for one more?" I called just before the boy with messy black hair closed the door to his compartment.

"Sure," he said with a crooked grin. Then he helped me lug my truck up onto the rack above.

"My name is Skyler Jackson by the way," I said holding my hand out to shake his.

He took my hand and shook it, "I'm James Potter and this is Sirius Black," he said and gestured towards a handsome boy, with black wavy hair about half way to his shoulder, sitting next to him.

I waved at him, "hello."

Then a tall wiry boy with short sandy brown hair across from Sirius put down his book and said, "I'm Remus Lupin and this is Peter Pettigrew," gesturing toward the small round boy sitting next to Remus with mousy colored hair and he went back to reading his book. I waved again and sat next to Sirius.

"So what house do you guys think you'll be in?" I asked trying to start a conversation.

James, puffing out his chest, made a gesture like raising a sword, answered," Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart! Like my dad. "

I smiled, glad someone I knew would be in Gryffindor with me, "me too," I replied.

"My whole family have been in Slytherin." Sirius said unsmiling.

"Blimey," said James, "And I thought you seemed alright!"

Sirius grinned, "Maybe I'll break the tradition."

"I know how you feel my mum and her parents were Slytherins, and I think she would actually be proud of me if I was a Slytherin." I made a disgusted face, then asked, "What about you Remus?"

"Well, Ravenclaw sounds good, but I don't really care as long as I'm not in Slytherin." He replied looking up from his book as James made a gagging gesture to show his dislike for the Slytherins and Peter nodded in agreement.

"I think I would leave if I were sorted into Slytherin." James said and we all burst out laughing. A short while later, a rather plump witch, opened the door to our compartment and asked us if we wanted anything off the trolley. We got a bit of everything and sat back down to eat them.

"So, do you guys want to mess with some of the other first years before we get off the train?" I asked with a mischievous grin. Similar grins plastered Sirius's and James's faces, but Remus had a look of inquiry as if he was waiting for more details on the matter and Peter just looked nervous as if he wasn't sure he wanted to be associated with such mischief makers.

So I told them my plan, leaving out the part where I am an animagus; I was going to transform into a rabid looking fox inside the girls bathroom and scare the girls away until we were certain everyone had spread rumors of the rabid fox in the girl's lavatory. Then I would turn back into myself when no one was looking and sneak out. Then while all the prefects were checking out the bathroom, and calming down hysteric first years, we would set off dung bombs in the prefect's compartment.

On the way back James had noticed Severus in one of the compartments, and quickly slipped one inside it before dashing away. Once we were all back in our compartment we collapsed into fits of laughter. We all high fived, and celebrated our first successful prank. For the rest of the ride we ate, laughed, talked about Quidditch, and played many rounds of exploding snap.


	2. Chapter 2: The Sorting

An: I forgot to put this in my first post, but as many of you realize I do not own nor ever will own Harry Potter. This will be my one and only disclaimer. Also I will be updating about once a week, but it might be a little less as I have a busy life. Enjoy :)

About ten minutes before we arrived in Hogsmead we changed into our school robes. Once the train stopped everyone hurried off the train in a buzz of excitement.

When I stepped off the train I noticed all of the older years heading towards a bunch of carriages that seemed to be pulling themselves, but it wouldn't be long until I saw what really pulled them. All of a sudden I heard a booming voice calling, "Firs' years over 'ere. Firs' years." I turned around to see a very, Very large man with thick bushy black hair and a beard was holding up a lantern. He led us all down a path towards a lake where a fleet of boats were waiting. Quickly the five of us climbed into one of the boats. Once everyone was in a boat the giant man got into his own boat and pulled out a pink umbrella.

He pointed it and yelled, "Forward!" And all the boats started to glide across the lake.

At the start of the journey Sirius and James rocked the boat back and forth, scaring Peter and earning a reproving look from Remus, but then all the small chatter from the rest of the boats stopped causing all of us to look up.

The view was absolutely breathtaking as the castle came gliding into view. It was perched atop a high mountain, and looked absolutely amazing with all the turrets, towers, and about a million glowing windows. The rest of the trip across the lake was silent as everyone marveled in the beauty of the magnificent castle. When we reached the castle we were lead into a small room on the side of what I assumed to be the Great Hall where we waited. Eventually the excited chatter of the students returned when suddenly a group of ghost floated through the wall, causing some of the other students to gasp in fright. The ghosts seemed to be deep in conversation and oblivious to the students standing there.

One of the braver first years took a chance, and attempted to poke one of the ghosts to get his attention. When his finger went straight through him the boy shivered and recoiled. Although it was able to alert the ghost of his current surroundings. He looked up smiling and greeted us, "Ah, first years, welcome to Hogwarts. My name is Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, Gryffindor ghost at your service." he said with a little bow. Then the rest followed suit introducing themselves and what house they belonged to. There was the Fat Friar for Hufflepuff, the Bloody Baron for Slytherin, and the Grey Lady for Ravenclaw, but she was very shy and left before she could introduce herself as Sir Nicholas explained after she had vanished. After that they too floated out a tall stern looking women with her hair pinned up into a bun came into the room.

"My name is Professor McGonagall; you will follow me into the Great Hall where you will stand in a line to wait for your name to be called so you can be sorted into a house. There are four houses Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin." She announced, turned on her heel, opened the door, and led us to the front of the Great Hall. I felt a sudden pang of nerves as I looked around at all of the older students staring at us. Next to McGonagall there was a three-legged stool and an old ratty looking wizards. Of course I had known that it was the sorting hat, but I was still surprised when the brim of the hat split open and burst into a song about all the houses.

When it was done Professor McGonagall held up a long piece of parchment and called out, "Abott, Maria." A pretty girl with long blonde hair stepped out of line and cautiously made her way over to the stool and put on the hat on, which fell past her eyes.

Shortly after the hat called out, "Hufflepuff!" and loud cheers came from the table with a badger banner over it as she made her way towards it and sat down.

I looked around at my fellow classmates, seeing there were quite a few kids in front of me, when I noticed that Snivelous kid whispering in the red head's ear. She seemed to notice me, and huffed turning her back to me. I rolled my eyes at her before turning back to the front. I really hope she isn't in the same house as me because she can really hold a grudge for just laughing.

A few more names were called out before McGonagall called, "Black, Sirius." He hurried over to the stool and looked extremely nervous as he put the hat on.

A couple of minutes past before it finally called out, "Gryffindor!" And a look of relief washed over his faced as he joined the clapping Gryffindor student at their table.

I zoned out as more first years were called forward until McGonagall called, "Evens, Lily." and the red-headed girl I saw on the train walked over to the hat and was also sorted into Gryffindor. As she made her way over to the Gryffindor table Sirius waved her over, but she turned up her nose and walked to farthest possible spot away from him. I was really starting to dislike this girl, and I hadn't even met her yet.

Eventually McGonagall made it to my name, and as she called, "Jackson, Skyler." I confidently strode over to the hat, and put it on knowing Gryffindor was definitely the house I wanted to be in. I quickly looked back over my shoulder to where James, Remus, and Peter were standing before putting on the hat. Remus gave me a thumbs up, James gave me a reassuring wink, but Peter didn't seem to notice at all.

The hat slid over my eyes, and I heard a voice, which seemed to be coming from inside my head, say," Ah, Miss Jackson I had thought I'd be seeing you soon. A very smart girl, indeed, clever, very loyal, but I see there are some trust issues. You are very powerful as well, but your power scares you. Your parents were both in Ravenclaw, but then again you are very different from them."

"Not Slytherin! Anywhere but Slytherin." I said firmly in my mind.

"No, I think the choice is quite clear where you should be even though you would've done quite well in Ravenclaw I think you should be in Gryffindor!" as the hat shouted out the last word I got up quickly putting the hat back on the stool. I ran over to the cheering Gryffindor table as fast as I could, and sat down next to Sirius.

"Congratulation Skyler!" Sirius said smiling at me.

"Thanks, you too." I said returning the smile. I thought it was a little odd that he said that both my parents were in Ravenclaw when only my dad was. I shook off the idea, glad to have been put in Gryffindor with my friends. I watched as more first years joined the other tables all with varying degrees of nerves and confidence.

"Longbottom, Frank." Was called and a strong looking boy walked over to the stool and soon after he joined the cheering Gryffindor table.

Next, "Lupin, Remus." Was called and Sirius, and I perked up waiting for the placement of our friend. When it called out, "Gryffindor!" we sighed in relief and clapped loudly along with the rest of the table as he walked over and sat across from us. A little while later Peter also joined us at the Gryffindor table. After him James was called and he strode over to the stool with confidence. The second that the hat touched James's head it called out, "Gryffindor!" A huge grin spread over his face as he jogged over to us and sat on the other side of Sirius. Eventually there was only one boy left in line. It was the greasy haired boy that I saw on the train.

McGonagall called out his name, "Snape, Severus." And like James as soon as the hat touched his head it called, "Slytherin!" Loud cheering erupted from the table at the other end of the hall as he joined the Slytherin table. Then a man wearing half-moon spectacles with long flowing sliver hair, beard, and mustache stood up, smiling broadly at the students.

"Welcome!" he said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin I would just like to remind everyone the Forbidden forest is of course forbidden, and that the new tree planted is called a Whomping Willow. It is very dangerous and should not be played with. Anyone who wishes to keep their limbs in tack should head my warning. Now, tuck in." he sat back down and everyone clapped. When I turned back to the table my eyes widened as I saw the once empty bowls filled with piles food.

"So who here is up for a little tag the trunk this weekend?" Sirius asked with a mischievous grin.

Remus paled and said, "No! I don't think that's a good idea, besides Dumbledore said we weren't aloud."

"Come on Remus, where's your sense of adventure." James pleaded.

"Well I think it'd be cool to check out, but I don't know how close we'll be able to get to it. I've read about whomping willows and they are really vicious." I said not wanting to be in the hospital wing my first week there.

"The risk will make it all the more fun, though." Sirius said trying to make puppy dog eyes at me, and they would have worked if I hadn't already mastered the art myself. Although he did make a point, and being the thrill seeker I was I couldn't pass it up.

"I bet five galleon you won't make it past a foot within the tree's reach." I said smirking.

"You're on!" Sirius said, and shook my hand making it official.

"You're all crazy. By the end of this year I bet you will all have been in the hospital wing at least five times." Remus said with a little more color in his face.

Once everyone was done eating Professor Dumbledore Stood up again announcing, "House prefect will now show all of the first years to their dormitories. I suggest that you all go to bed early so you are well rested for class tomorrow morning. Goodnight." With that we got up and followed the Gryffindor prefects to our common room. We walked all the way up to the seventh floor and stopped in front of a portrait of a fat lady.

"Password?" she asked.

"Flubberworm." One of the boy prefects said, the portrait swung open revealing the entrance to the common room. Inside there were chairs and couches around a fireplace, and tables around the room to work at. On the other side of the room there were two doors. One labeled girls and the other labeled boys.

Before the prefect left us he said, "I would just like to warn the boys that they are not allowed in the girl dormitories. If you try and climb their stairs an alarm will sound, and the stairs will collapse into a slide."

Next to me I could just barely hear Sirius whisper to James, "Dam!"

Quickly the five of us found a table where we played exploding snap until I decided we should all go to bed so we weren't tired during class the next day. When I got up to my dormitory the other four girls were already there.

"Hi, my name's Skyler Jackson. What are your names?" I asked waving at the girls.

Lily spoke first, "I'm Lily Evans."

Then a round-faced girl with short brown hair smiled and said, "I'm Alice Smith."

Next a girl with long purple hair, that she had obviously dyed, said, "I'm Marlene McKinnon."

Last a girl with very curly brown hair said, "I'm Jennifer Watson."

"Well it's nice to meet all of you." I smiled and walked over to the bed closest to the door, pulled out some parchment, and started writing a letter to my dad telling him about my new friends and that I was in Gryffindor. Then I put it in my bag and went into the bathroom to get ready for bed.

Just as I was leaving the bathroom, I could hear the other girls whispering. I wasn't really sure what they were talking about, but Lily had clearly said her name. I clenched my fist as I walked past them to my bed. Why was this girls making such a big deal about her laughing? Was it really so bad?

I laid down, and tried to let her slip from my mind as I fell asleep.


	3. Chapter 3: The first day of mischief

An: Sorry my chapter names aren't all that creative. That and summaries are not my strong points. Also I'm kind of revamping my story, which might take a while so my next chapter will be a while. Thanks to Maddell, Pysco-babydoll, and lghngslly09 for following my story. If you guys could leave some reviews I'd love some feed back, thanks :) enjoy.

That next morning I woke up, and all my roommates had already gone down for breakfast. So I groggily got dressed, and dreaded classes that morning. I had never in my life been a morning person. I usually didn't even have to get up until 9. I went into the bathroom, and splashed some water on my face hoping it would wake me up, but it only proved in making me sopping wet. I sighed, then dried myself of, and just used a perk me up potion I had taken from my mum's supply. Once I looked somewhat presentable, and ready for the day I went down stairs to the common room to wait for my friends. After ten minutes I decided I would go up there and wake them up myself.

I ran up their dormitory stairs, opened the door marked first years, and yelled, "Rise and shine sleeping beauties!" When that didn't get their attention I waved my wand causing the curtains around their beds, and on their windows to swing open with a loud swoosh. As the sunlight spilled over them there was a collective groan as they all woke up.

"You really think we're beautiful?" Sirius smirked as he rolled out of bed.

"You're right, I'm sorry. I meant to say rise and shine sleeping trolls. How could I be so silly?" I smirked back, and he stuck out his tongue. "Hurry up or you'll miss breakfast." With that I turned and went back down to the common room so they could get dressed.

Once they were ready we all walked down to the Great Hall to eat. When we got there McGonagall handed us our schedules, which I noticed were the only ones left

"It looks like we have double potions first thing this morning, with our favorite Slytherins. What a wonderful way to start a Monday morning." I said sarcastically, making a gaging gesture as we all put food on our plates.

"Maybe we can skip class, and just explore the castle. Say we got lost if anyone catches us." James suggested.

"Sound better already. I hear Slughorn has major favoritism." Sirius griped.

"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I would like to learn while we are at school." Remus said.

"We could walk you down to class, then leave you to learn rules." James smirked, and although Remus didn't seem to catch on I knew he would never make it to that class.

Peter still seemed far too shy to say anything, but just watched us as we talked.

"How about you Skye? Are you in?" Sirius said looking very excited.

"I wouldn't dream of doing anything else." I smiled. "Are you going to come with us Peter?"

He thought a moment before nodding excitedly.

After we finished eating we all started walking in the direction of the dungeons only for James to lead us down the hallway that lead in the exact wrong direction, but Remus seemed far too absorbed in his potions book to notice.

"If you're on your way to potions class, what are you reading the book so thoroughly for?" Sirius asked, yanking away the text book.

"Hey! For your information I'd like to be able to answer the teacher's questions, if there is some sort of pop quiz to test your previous knowledge." Remus said fighting to get his book back.

"That's ridiculous, what kind of teacher would do that to first years?" I asked thinking of all the muggle born who wouldn't know anything at all.

"No what's ridiculous is that I've somehow befriended a teachers pet." Sirius laughed shaking his head at Remus.

"I am not! I just enjoy learning." Remus defended

"Teachers pet! Teachers pet!" Sirius taunted prancing ahead making faces at Remus causing us all to laugh.

James stuck out his foot causing Sirius to trip. "You're such a prat Sirius" he laughed helping him up.

Looking around at all the niches, and tapestries I asked, "I wonder if there are any secret passageways? I mean with a castle this old and magical there is bound to be secrets."

"Yeah, I bet your right! I've asked my dad loads of questions about school, but he'd never tell me anything about the castle, said it'd be more fun to discover for myself."

"We could sneak about the castle at night, undetected, if we knew where they all were." Sirius injected excited as always for a way to break the rules.

"I've got a better way to do that. My dad gave me his old invisibility cloak before I got on the train." James said.

"That's brilliant mate! We could like sneak into the girl's rooms with it." Sirius said

I rolled my eyes, and smacked him over the head. "Oy! Is it beat up Sirius day or what?"

"No, you're just an idiot, and a creep. Besides even with the cloak there's no way you can get into the girl's dorms. Don't you remember what the prefect said about the stairs? It's a charm, it doesn't need to see you to know that you are there, and shouldn't be."

Sirius frowned, but he was still clearly thinking about other ways to get up there.

Remus looked up from his book puzzled. "Are you guys sure we are going in the right direction? I don't want to be late."

"Don't worry mate, you're in safe hands. We know exactly where we are going. Now get your nose out of that book and enjoy the sights." James said grinning that familiar lopsided grin that almost made you want to trust him.

Remus didn't seem all that reassured, but put his book away all the same. A little part of me knew that even though Remus kept insisting on getting to class he liked hanging out with us, and knew he was never going to make it to potions.

Unfortunately, we walked right past the open door of McGonagall's classroom.

"And where are the five of you headed?" She asked looking particularly stern.

"Well we were just…" James started, but was cut off.

"Don't even start with me Potter. Get to class, now! I'll let you off this time, but next time its detention." She said then shut her door. Not wanting to cross a woman like McGonagall we ran down to the dungeons.

We slipped through the door, hoping not to notice, but as luck would have it one particularly slimy Slytherin caught our eye as we sat down. We all glared at the back of his head as he raised his hand.

"Yes, Snape?" Slughorn asked looking up from his desk.

"Potter, and his four friends just came in, late." Severus said smiling maliciously.

"Ah, yes, 25 points from Gryffindor. Seeing as you won't have time to complete the potion just get started on your writing assignment. It's on my desk."

My dad had told me about professor Slughorn. He was the kind of professor that would have favorites. I for one did not want to be noticed by him because he would surely remember how good my mum was at potions and expect the same from me.

"Hey Sirius, you wouldn't happen to have any dung bombs in your bag, would you?" I whispered.

"Why yes, yes I do." Sirius said seeming to have the same thought I had. He reached into his bag, and handed me one. I palmed it as I made my way towards Slughorn's desk for the assignment with Sirius and James in tow. Severus being the snitching teacher's pet he was, was sitting at the front of the classroom, right next to Slughorn.

I grabbed the parchment, then while Sirius and James distracted Lily and Severus I slipped the dung bomb in their cauldron so when they lit the fire to heat it, it would explode.

I winked at them to let them know it was done than sat back down in the back. Remus of coarse had already began his homework, and was nearly done.

When the bomb finally went off we found out they had been working on a swelling solution, and Severus had made it perfectly. The blast covered four out of six tables.

"I guess we can always count on Snivelous to make sure the potion is as perfect as can be." Sirius whispered as we watched everything in the front half of the classroom, including the students, start to swell. Luckily Professor Slughorn was in back of the classroom examining potions, when the dung bombs went off so he wasn't hit.

"Class dismissed, everyone who was hit with the potion please come up to my desk for a deflating draught. Five points to Slytherin for making such an excellent brew." Slughorn said with a smile of pride as he started fixing his classroom.

"Talk about favoritism. He only awarded point because Snivelous was in his house." James grumbled as the five of us left the potions classroom, "I mean for crying out loud it exploding, even if it was bloody perfect it shouldn't have exploded!"

"Maybe he thinks someone tampered with it." I suggested putting on an innocent looking face, and we all burst out laughing. Then we made our way to charms with Professor Flitwick where we practiced levitation on feathers. By the end of class all of us save Peter had successfully levitated our feather. Peter's on the other hand burst into flames, twice.

When we got to the Great Hall all the first year's and even some of the older students seemed to be talking about the explosion in potions class. James, Sirius, and I grinned as we all sat down for lunch. While Remus just shook his head at us, although I did catch him smiling the littlest bit.

Suddenly a stern voice from behind us said, "So you five think it's funny to explode another student's potion?" As we turned around all of our faces fell when we looked up at Professor McGonagall standing behind us with her arms crossed.

James was the first one to recover, putting on an innocent face saying, "Honestly Minnie you don't think we did this, do you?"

"It's Professor McGonagall to you Mr. Potter, and yes I do have a very strong suspicion that you and your little gang of marauders had something to do with today's little mishap. I know your family personally, and I know the kind of trouble you get up to. But seeing as there is no proof this is merely a warning to not make a habit of this." With that she turned on her heal and strode back over to the staff table.

"Well if she thinks we are a little gang of marauders then marauders we shall be." James smiled

"I agree, it's the perfect name for us, and from now on every student shall come to know us as the Marauders, creating mischief and mayhem around every corner." I said also smiling, and Sirius nodded in agreement.

After Lunch we had Defense against the Dark Arts with Professor Helling. He was a rather tall, strong looking man, but he wasn't the kind of strong man that made you feel safe. He was more like the guy you worry is going to beat you up, and his penetrating black eyes made you even more wary of him. He had this look of distaste that was permanently etched onto his face as he called out the names of the Gryffindors, but when he came to a select few Slytherins such as Antonin Dolohov, and Dolores Umbridge, a short, squat looking girl who looked very much like a toad, and wore an awful lot of pink, he seemed to smile a bit like he approved of their existence or something. It was very odd.

Professor Helling talked the entire class, unlike the other teacher that only talked half the class before starting on our first spell or potion. He seemed to be very strict about rule breaking, even more so than McGonagall which was a little frightening.

While he droned on about the defensive spells and dark creatures we would learn about, Sirius was doodling on his parchment a picture of Severus, that was actually pretty good, and charmed it so it would cause his cauldron to explode and his head would swell up so big that he fell over.

After class we went up to the common room and finished only the homework that was due the next day. When we finished it was just about time for dinner so we slowly made our way down to the Great hall. On the sixth floor Peter stopped realizing his shoes were knotted together so we all stopped to wait for him. As he was trying to untie the knot, that Sirius had put there 'for educational purposes', I looked at the wall with a tapestry, which had a strong looking man gazing into the distance with a tiger by his side, hanging on it. I leaned back against it, and fell through into a narrow staircase instead of hitting solid wall.

"Hey guys look what I found!" I said, my head peering around the tapestry. I quickly pulled out my wand and undid Sirius's knot in Peter's shoe, so he wouldn't be left behind, and they all pilled in after me. We followed it all the way until we hit a fork in the path.

"Peter and Remus can go right and we'll go left, and we'll all meet in the Great Hall to tell each other where they come out." I instructed and Sirius, James, and I set off down the left path. After few minutes we opened the back of a painting, which had a hippogriff painted on the front, and found ourselves in the dungeons.

"This will be perfect for getting to potions class." Sirius said obviously excited, "That is when we actually show up."

"I wonder where the other one lead" I inquire looking back up the path before shutting the painting,

"Well, let's get up to the Great Hall so we can find out." James answered as we started to make our way up.

Once we reached the Great Hall we saw Remus and Peter were already waiting for us at the Gryffindor table.

"It comes out just around the corner in a painting of a giraffe!" Peter blurted out as we sat down next to them. We were all quite shocked at his sudden outburst, as he hadn't said more than a sentence since we met him.

Quickly I recovered, and told them where our path led. I smiled about the prospect of having a passage pretty close to Gryffindor Tower that took us to the dungeons and right around the corner from the Great Hall. It would be a lot easier than using the main stairs, what with them changing all the time.

After dinner I went to the owlery before going back to Gryffindor tower so I could send my letter. When I got up there I found Ginger and went over to her. I pulled out my letter from my backpack and an owl treat for her. She nibbled on the treat while I tied my letter to her outstretched leg and told her to take it to dad, where ever he might be at the time. I watched for a while as she flew into the distance then walked backed to Gryffindor tower.


End file.
